Written by: Nicole Chau · Translated by: Jane Li
Photography: Jansen Teo
AS FEATURED IN EDITION NO. 6 OF FÊTE CHINOISE MAGAZINE: Time + Tempo

A Regimented Upbringing

I grew up in a traditional Chinese household with two immigrant parents. My parents worked tirelessly to sacrifice every bit of their own life to open up opportunities for my sister and me. My mother worked since she was 16 to support herself through college. She built her company at 29, and ran two companies while raising my sister and me. In turn, we were pushed to succeed, and life was very regimented.

I had my future mapped out at a young age. I wanted to go into medicine and had dreams of becoming a neurologist. In 2011, I graduated from USC with a double major in Neuroscience and Chinese. My interest in Chinese grew as over the summers of my childhood, my mom would always bring my sister and me with her for work. She took us to every city — from larger metropolis' like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, to smaller cultural gems like Xinjiang, Chengdu, and Xi'an. I was and always have been proud of my heritage. I wanted to fully immerse myself in the Chinese language and culture with a major in this area of study. Starting from scratch, I learned how to read, write, and speak in Mandarin as a Cantonese speaker. Chinese characters fascinate me — particularly traditional characters. The language is so intuitive, and the combination of characters so unique from Latin-based languages. So much history is embedded in the language.

After my undergraduate studies, instead of going to medical school, I found myself working in a number of industries, from finance to fashion. Despite working in an industry I loved, something was missing and I felt empty inside.

編制式的成長

我在一個傳統中國家庭成長，父母離鄉別井，孜孜不倦地工作，為的是要給姐姐和我更多機會。我母親16歲開始工作，求學費供自己上大學。年屆29已開始創業，在撫養我姐妹倆的同時經營了兩間公司。母親的堅毅，另我們也不敢鬆懈，必須力爭上游，生活也排得密麻麻。

我從小就計劃着未來。我想讀醫科，夢想成為一名神經科醫生。在2011年，我於南加州大學畢業，獲得了神經科學和中文雙學位。我對中文的興趣越來越大，這緣於在我小時候的暑假，媽媽總是會帶著姐姐和我一起去上班。她帶我們到訪了多個城市—從較大的如北京、上海和廣州，到較小的如新疆、成都和西安。我一直以來都為自己的文化背景感到自豪，但我還是想通過主修EALC來完全融入中國語言和文化。母語為廣東話，我要從零開始學習如何用普通話閱讀、寫作和說話。漢字讓我著迷，尤其是繁體字。當您深入研究該語言時，該語言是如此直率，而且文字的組合非常獨特。語言中蘊藏着許多歷史。

大學本科畢業後，我並沒有上醫學院，而是在金融、時裝等多個行業工作。我喜歡從事時尚的零售策劃，但是，儘管在我熱愛的行業中工作，始終好像缺少了一些東西，我內心感到空虛。

On Intuition & The Birth of La Luer

My internal conflict literally “erupted” on my face. I struggled with acne, dry, hypersensitive skin and I couldn’t find a solution that fit into my schedule. With a very science-oriented mind, I was determined to find a solution. I lived and breathed “skin” and the more I talked to women, the more I realized I wasn’t alone. I felt vulnerable walking out of the house without foundation and makeup, and I felt dependent on others like estheticians or facialists to help me maintain good skin. I became obsessed with creating an all-encompassing solution, and I was so obsessed with research and development, I couldn’t possibly see myself doing anything else. I again, decided to switch careers. This time, taking the biggest jump of all.

Not only was I changing industries, but I was going from a stable job with a salary, to depending solely on myself and an idea that had not even materialized. Yet I’ve found the most growth through adversity and discomfort. Adversity has allowed me to step back and reconnect with my natural intuition, fostered creativity I never thought I had, and taught me to be resilient.

I worked tirelessly to develop La Luer’s facial treatment system and when it was finally done, I didn’t need to get validation from others. In my heart, I knew it was going to work, so I just went with my gut and I ran with the idea. Since then, we were invited to launch at the world’s largest technology tradeshow — CES; we secured distribution with global leaders like Selfridges; and we’ve gained recognition amongst industry leaders: we were selected as one of the 12 female entrepreneurs for Sephora’s Accelerate program.

La Luer was born out of my personal need. The women I worked with constantly complained and they honestly didn’t know what to do — didn’t know what topicals to use, with thousands to choose from, what treatments to get, or what devices to buy. Ultimately, I saw a void in the market and decided to take things into my own hands. Integrating 6 of the most widely used beauty technologies into a device, La Luer not only simplifies but also optimizes skincare for users. La Luer means brightness in French, and Mira means to see in Spanish. We want women and men to see the brightness within themselves without needing to hide behind layers of makeup. We want people to take beauty into their own hands, and not only simplify, but optimize skincare! Caring for your skin shouldn’t be complicated or confusing.

本能直覺與La Luer的誕生

我的內在衝突從我的臉上“爆發”出來。我便與暗瘡的、過度乾燥的過敏的皮膚搏鬥，可是無法找到一個可以配合自己日程的解決方案。抱着一個科學導向的心態，我下定決心要找到解決方案。我視“健康皮膚”為生命，與不同女性交談的次數越多，我越發意識到自己並不孤單。當沒有上粉底和化妝就走出家門時，我會感到很脆弱不安，並且我覺得自己需要依賴如美容師或面部護理師等，來幫助我維持皮膚在良好狀態。於是，我沉迷於創建一個包羅萬有的答案，而我因為沉迷於研發，以至我無法想像自己做其他工作。我再次決定轉行。這次是我人生最大的轉捩點。

我不僅要改變行業，而且要從一份有固薪的穩定工作變成完全依靠自己和一個甚至還沒發生的理念。然而，在逆境和困難中我發現自己成長得最多。逆境使我能夠退一步去重新與我的自然直覺連接起來，培養出從未想過的創造力，並教導我要有韌性。

我努力不懈地開發了La Luer的面部護理系統。最終，當它完成時，我不需要別人的確認。在我心中，我深信它可以改變世界，所以我就按照自己的直覺去行，推動這個理念。從那時起，我們受邀在全球最大的消費電子展(CES)上發布產品；我們與全球領導者如塞爾福里奇(Selfridges)等確保了分銷；而且我們已經贏得了行業領導者的認可：我們亦被選為絲芙蘭加速計劃(Sephora Accelerate Program)的12位女性企業家之一。

La Luer是基於我的個人需求而誕生。曾與我共事過的女士們經常抱怨，說實話不知道該怎麼辦—比如不知道該使用哪種護膚霜，因為有成千上萬的選擇，接受哪種治療方法或購買哪種美容產品。最終，我看到了市場上的漏洞，決定將一切交到自己手中去解決。La Luer將六種最廣泛使用的美容技術集成到一個設備中，不僅簡化了使用者的工作，而且優化了使用者的護膚效果。La Luer在法文中的意思是亮度，MIRA在西班牙語中的意思是看見。我們希望男女都可以看到自己內在的光彩，而不必躲在一層層的化妝後面。我們希望人們將美麗掌握在自己手中，不僅要簡化而且要優化皮膚護理！保養皮膚是不應太複雜或令人困擾的。

Being Chinese and Expanding to Asia

I’m proud to be Chinese, and much of who I am today is shaped by my traditional upbringing and Chinese heritage. I’ve learned to be resilient, respect my parents and elders, and to give everything I do my 110%. We’re currently distributed in the US via laluer.com, UK at Selfridges, and Paris at Printemps, but it’s always been my dream to expand to Asia. I envision bringing our technology and mission overseas to Asia.

As a Chinese daughter, you’re typically taught to be obedient and docile, but for me being Chinese took on a different meaning. I was raised by strong women who didn’t shy away from adversity — they powered through it and sacrificed their own comfort to give me the life I have. So for me, being Chinese means standing up for yourself and fighting for what you believe in. Make the best out of every opportunity and your time, not just for oneself but also for your community, family, and all those women who came before us.

身為中國人並向亞洲擴展

我為身為一名中國人而感到自豪。而造就今天的我，大部分都由我傳統的養育和中國的傳承所塑造而成。我學會了韌性，尊重父母和長輩，並盡我所能去做到110%。目前，我們通過laluer.com在美國進行發行，英國就在塞爾福里奇(Selfridges)裏和巴黎就在巴黎春天百貨(Printemps)裏，但一直以來，我一直夢想著將業務拓展到亞洲。我能夠預見將我們的技術和使命帶到亞洲。

作為一個中國家庭的女兒，通常會教導妳要溫順乖巧，但對我來說，作為中國人則具有不同的含義。我是由堅強的女性撫養長大的，她們不畏懼逆境，她們在逆境中充滿了力量，並犧牲了自己的舒適來賦予我現有的生命。

所以對我來說，身為中國人意味著要站起來，並為自己的信念而奮鬥。這包含了容讓自己失敗、跌倒、接受被拒絕，並且儘管失敗了也要振作起來，然後再去做，因為你不只是為您自己而做的—而是為您的社區、家庭以及所有在您之前出現過，卻沒有機會去做您正在做的女性。

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